


Christmas in July

by ellyerin



Series: Peter Parker Meets the Avengers [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Tower, Christmas, Christmas In July | Christmas Out Of Season, Christmas Tree, Gen, Identity Reveal, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Compliant, Peter Parker Meets the Avengers, Stark Tower, arguing!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25662325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellyerin/pseuds/ellyerin
Summary: Tony has a global crisis to solve, and that means calling in all the Avengers. Only problem is they aren't exactly on speaking terms. Oh, and, he forgot to cancel lab time with Peter. To be fair though, he wasn't expecting Peter to walk into the tower, Christmas tree in hands, in the middle of July.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Series: Peter Parker Meets the Avengers [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817749
Comments: 62
Kudos: 1454
Collections: Irondad and his Iron kids, Marvel Stories, god tier spider-man fics





	Christmas in July

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place sometime after Civil War, and really isn't compliant with Ragnarok, Infinity War, or Endgame (although there are some parts from Ragnarok, but not most of it). The threat in the piece has nothing to do with Thanos.  
> Also, yes, I know, July ended yesterday. But Christmas in July is a thing, so pretend I posted this yesterday.

Doomsday circumstances. Sure, why not? Tony had seen weirder things. Alien threat? Been there, done that. Biological warfare? Probably an easy fix. And they even had a few days to figure it out. Overall, not the worst situation they’d been in.

But having everyone back in the same room again? Yeah, that was proving to be a challenge. 

It was 4AM when Tony got an odd call from a spaceship. He hadn’t heard Bruce’s voice in forever, and although he hadn’t been asleep, it took his sleep-deprived brain a little while to catch up. Bruce and Thor apparently had been on some planet and gotten a heads-up about an Earth-related threat. They were on their way here to figure it out with everyone - Bruce thought something he left in his lab might help - and it all seemed a little crazy. Tony’s life had been pretty calm recently in terms of global threats. Mostly, he’d been dealing with littler stuff, focusing on SI, and rolling out some new products. He spent a significant amount of his time trying to keep Peter from burning down his lab, getting shot on patrol, or falling behind in classes. 

Bruce had said they’d needed everyone on this, which led to a bit of an awkward conversation about recent _disagreements_. Tony tried to emphasize the significance of their break, but Bruce didn’t seem to understand that the others were essentially wanted criminals now. He’d told Tony he didn’t care, and he expected them to be there when he landed. In less than a day. 

So Tony had sat for about 20 minutes staring at the burner phone in his hand that existed only for this specific purpose. Finally, he called the number, spoke tersely and succinctly, emphasizing that it was a global crisis situation. Rogers had been silent for a moment, and then said ‘you can count on us,’ which seemed like a gross exaggeration given the circumstances. Nonetheless, Rogers, Nat, and Barton all arrived within 15 hours. Luckily, Bruce and Thor arrived shortly as well. 

Tony figured ‘all-hands-on-deck’ meant he could bring Rhodey over too. He felt like he earned that. He’d said that they needed Rhodey’s expertise, and for Rhodey to be able (hopefully) to delay the military response to this thing, and to have a third party present. Mostly, though, Tony just didn’t want to face this little reunion without Rhodey present. So, after obtaining everyone’s consent (and a little argument), Tony caller Rhodey, gave him almost no info, and asked him to come over for a ‘minor emergency.’

So here he was in the Tower’s main common room, with all six Avengers and a slightly peeved Rhodey, trying to solve a global crisis. On some level, it seemed so normal, and yet Tony’s heart, lungs, and brain couldn’t seem to act normally. 

Good thing he had a major crisis to focus on instead. 

* * *

Peter gazed out the window of the car. This week had been kind of crazy. He’d spent a lot of time with Ned, including with Ned acting as Spider-Man’s ‘guy in the chair.’ And it was nice. Summer was good - way less to worry about. But everyone knew summer meant less work, and so everyone seemed to want all of his attention, all of the time. Peter was getting to feel pretty thinly spread between Spider-Man, Ned, and May, so he was really looking forward to this break. Friday meant lab time, which meant for a few hours he could think about nothing but the project in his hands. Finally, some time to relax. 

The car was stopped at a light with Peter still looking out the window. A spot of green caught his eye, and when he looked closer, the sight immediately brought a smile to his face. A full, beautiful Christmas tree was sitting on the curbside outside of a townhouse. In July. And it looked like someone was trying to throw it out! Which was totally insane. He whipped his head towards Happy, grinning and eyes bright. 

Happy was looking at him through the rear-view mirror, apparently having already noticed the Christmas tree. 

“No,” he said sternly. 

Peter pouted. “Please, please, please, please, Happy! Look at how perfect it looks! It’s just sitting out there on the curb, waiting to be picked up! It's a Christmas miracle!”

“Absolutely not. And it's not Christmas.”

“Exactly, it’s July! And there’s a perfect Christmas tree right there waiting for us! How often do you come across this opportunity?!” Peter looked between Happy and the Christmas tree, eyes pleading. 

“Nope. Not gonna happen.” Happy shook his head. 

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, looked between Happy and the Christmas tree one more time, and made a decision. He pulled on the door handle and pushed his weight against it so that he could quickly run to the tree and back. 

But the door didn’t open. Confused, Peter looked at Happy, who was grinning. “Child locks.”

Peter gasped. The betrayal. “How could you!”

“You asked for it. If you weren’t always trying to jump out of the car at stop lights, or get out while the car is still running…” Happy continued, but Peter ignored him. Happy may have been able to lock the doors, but he’d failed to secure the windows. This wasn't an opportunity Peter was willing to pass up. He rolled down his window and quickly shimmied out, falling smoothly onto the sidewalk. He heard Happy shout, “Kid, are you kidding me?!” but he happily ignored him and grabbed the beautiful Christmas tree. Smiling broadly, he opened the car door and stuffed the tree and himself inside. He couldn’t see Happy anymore with the tree in the way, but he figured he was probably frowning. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me, kid. Seriously. You know that?”

“Yes, Happy, I know that.” Peter rolled his eyes. “But it’s Christmas in July! This is exciting! You should be excited.”

Peter heard Happy sigh. “You better have your seat belt on under that thing.” He paused. “You have your seat belt on right?”

Peter pulled his seat belt back on. “Yes.”

“Good.” Happy grunted, the car pushing forward again. 

There was silence for a little bit, as Peter watched some pine needles fall to the car floor. 

“Happy, do you think you could grab some of the ornament boxes from downstairs storage when we get there?”

Happy sighed again, but Peter thought it sounded more like he was smiling this time. “Sure, kid.”

Peter beamed.

* * *

They’d figured out some semblance of a plan. 

In three days, an alien ship was going to release a toxin into the atmosphere. This toxin would quickly and easily kill all life on Earth: human, animal, plant, or otherwise. This was apparently commonplace for the offending planet, which eradicated life on any planet they hoped to colonize. Luckily, there’d been some sort of war, and the attackers had been defeated brutally. Unluckily, the ship with the toxins had already been sent out, and no one left knew how to stop it. 

Bruce had managed to get a formula for the toxin, through an elaborate sequence of events that Tony had barely understood, even though it had been explained to him twice. That didn’t matter though. They had the formula, and now they needed to come up with some substance that could counteract it, render the toxin useless. 

Once Tony and Bruce had done that - which hopefully wouldn’t take long - as a team, they would venture to the awaiting noxious ship, and spoil the toxin supply with their counter agent. Hopefully. 

The plan relied on the various world governments really not getting in their way. Thor and Bruce seemed confident that the ship wouldn’t be noticeable without the coordinates (which Bruce had), so they were hoping that worked in their favor. Rhodey reluctantly agreed that he would help delay any military action if needed, and he’d keep a feeler out to make sure they weren’t sending a bomb out to the ship while the others were up there or anything like that. And he promised not to alert the government that the ‘Rogue Avengers’ were back in New York, so long as they didn’t stay for long. Tony felt like he owed Rhodey big when this was over. 

Once they’d come up with this plan, Bruce and Thor had gone back to the ship they’d come from, grabbing some supplies and alien tech that might be helpful for figuring this out. Which left Tony and Rhodey with Rogers, Barton, and Nat, and an awkward silence. Everyone seemed to have their eyes trained on the floor. 

After a while, Nat broke the silence. “How’ve you been, Tony?”

“Oh, you know,” Tony looked around, and his eyes caught Rogers. “Peachy.”

Tony watched as Rogers’s face twisted into a scowl. Which was maybe exactly what Tony was hoping for. “Oh yeah? Well hiding from our own government has been a real fun time.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. He saw Rhodey roll his eyes. But he didn’t really feel like getting into it. “I bet,” he mumbled. 

Nat looked around at all of them again. She rolled her eyes. 

“This is stupid,” she stood. “I’m not gonna sit in silence and brood with you guys.” She walked over to the window, pulling herself out of the group. 

Tony heard Rogers sigh, and it sounded like he was about to begin some lecture. “Look-” 

Tony shot up, discomfort running down his arms. “We should probably go through the plan again. For when we have this anecdote made. You know, details.”

Tony knew Rogers was glaring at him, so he looked away from him, instead meeting eyes with Barton, who had barely spoken a word but had both eyebrows raised. Another short but uncomfortable bout of silence followed. 

Rogers sighed again. He must’ve decided to humor Tony, because he began talking through the plan. “Okay, so, once Tony and Bruce have figured out this formula business,” Tony tried hard not to roll his eyes, “we’ve got to make sure we have enough to render the ship’s toxin supply useless. Then, we’re taking the Quinjet up to the ship, which Bruce will have the coordinates for-” 

Rogers was cut off by the sound of the elevator dinging. Tony watched Rhodey’s eyebrows furrow, and the two made eye contact. Tony’s first thought was that it seemed early for Bruce and Thor to be back. Then, it dawned on him that today was Friday, and Friday was lab day, and lab day meant Peter, and he hadn’t told Peter not to come, nor had he told Happy not to pick him up. All this passed through his mind very quickly, but not quick enough for him to do something about it. Tony’s gut sank as the elevator door opened. 

But rather than seeing his shaggy-haired, little teenage intern, Tony saw a Christmas tree. In July. Completely covering the elevator occupant. 

“What?” Tony sputtered. 

The Christmas tree walked out of the elevator, and from its needles came Peter’s enthusiastic voice. 

“Hey, Mr. Stark! Guess what, guess what, guess what!” Peter pushed his face out from the Christmas tree - probably just enough that he could see Tony and no one else. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Nat move back to the center of the room, and he figured all the Avengers were probably just as interested as her in the newcomer.

“Uh, kid-” 

“Now, I know you’re probably thinking: ‘Christmas tree?? In July???’ And the answer is yes! Someone left it on the street a block from here! Which is so weird because it’s the perfect shape and very healthy, and it’s July, so what was someone doing throwing out a perfect Christmas tree, in July? But some things we can never know. Instead of questioning fate, I took the tree, and I convinced Happy to get at least one box of ornaments from storage, so we’re decorating this Christmas tree right now. It’s Christmas in July!”

Despite the circumstances, Tony felt a smile tug at his lips. Of course this kid would bring a Christmas tree into the Tower, _in July_ , in front of all the Avengers, who he somehow still hadn’t noticed were standing in front of him. 

“Peter,” Rhodey wheezed from the other side of the room. 

Peter jumped a bit and began shifting the Christmas tree in his arms so that he could see to where Rhodey’s voice had come from. “Oh hey, Colonel Rhod-” 

Peter’s voice halted as he’d move the tree enough to now see all the Avengers staring at him. He let out a surprised whelp, and Tony watched his eyes go incredibly wide. 

“Um, I… hello. This was unexpected.”

Rhodey started laughing, loudly. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that he was the only one in the room laughing, and despite knowing that the laughter was at least somewhat at his expense, Tony felt himself chuckle a bit. Rhodey put his hands on his knees, and finally sighed looking at Peter. 

“Well, come on, kid. It’s not everyday you find a Christmas tree in July. Let’s go set it up!” 

Peter looked to Tony and then the other Avengers as if trying to decide what to do. 

“I’m gonna, um, go over there, and, uh, process all of this later.” Then, he shrugged, and happily followed Rhodey to the other edge of the room to begin setting up the Christmas tree. 

Tony watched all the others as they stared at Rhodey and Peter and the very large Christmas tree in his hands. 

“Um,” Clint began. “Who?” He pointed at Peter and whipped his head around to Tony. 

Tony rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s my intern, Peter. Probably would’ve told him not to come over if I knew me and a few of the nation’s most-wanted would be having a world-saving party right about now, but you know, I guess things happen.”

Steve tilted his head in confusion. “You have an intern?”

Tony shrugged. “Lot’s changed, Spangles.” 

The elevator dinged again, and this time Happy walked in carrying two boxes of ornaments. He trudged over to the counter to put them down. He opened his mouth to say something to Tony, but halted when he noticed the room’s other occupants. He blinked rapidly and moved his gaze between Tony and the others. 

“Um,” Happy began. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times. Then, his gaze turned from the other Avengers and onto Peter. He pointed at the kid on the other side of the room. “Should I take him home?”

Tony frowned. “No, he’s too excited about this Christmas tree. Don’t think it would fit in his apartment. Besides, it looks like Honeybear would be disappointed if I made them stop too.” 

Rhodey turned his head to Tony and smiled, laughter still in his eyes, then turned back to the tree, which he and Peter were securing into some kind of base. 

Happy leaned against the counter and sighed, looking at the others. “Might’ve alerted your head of security that there were war criminals in your living room.”

Tony nodded. “Mh. Perhaps.”

“Alright,” Happy nodded. “You need help here?” He looked at his watch. “Cause I’m supposed to be off early today.”

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. “No. I mean, there’s a bunch of war criminals in my living room, but sure. Leave early.”

Happy looked at Tony for a moment, considering. He smiled. “Okay, great.” Then, he turned and walked to the elevator. Looking out from the elevator, he raised both eyebrows and waved. “Bye, everyone.”

“Bye, Happy!” Peter called. He ran over to grab the ornament boxes from the counter. He paused, looked at Tony, looked at the Avengers, then went straight back to his tree and Rhodey. 

Silence followed. 

“Tony, other people can’t see us. We’re not supposed to be here,” Nat looked at Tony and put her hands on her hips. 

“Yeah, exactly. You’re not supposed to be here.” 

She looked at Peter again, and then back to Tony. “Do I need to threaten a teenager?”

Tony’s eyes hardened. “No. No one’s getting threatened. You can trust him,” Tony took a step closer to Nat. “Seriously, he's fine. Keep your weapons away from my intern, Nat.”

Nat stared at him a beat longer, then smirked a bit. “Protective much?”

Tony rolled his eyes. 

“You are not the type to have a teenage intern.” Clint raised a brow. “Taking in strays?”

Steve and Nat chuckled. Tony wanted to object to the ‘stray’ label that Peter was expertly pretending he did not hear, but the elevator dinged again. “Oh, God,” Tony mumbled. 

* * *

Peter sat at the back of the room, head empty. He went through the motions of decorating the Christmas tree, but his mind was still lingering on the world’s mightiest superheroes (and wanted criminals) who occupied the room. He hadn’t been prepared for that kind of introduction, and it was the sort of introduction you should definitely be prepared for. His mind alternated between trying to keep up with the main conversation, trying to figure out what everyone was doing here anyway, and wondering if he should just stand up and say ‘Actually, I’m Spider-Man. Super cool to meet everyone. How can I help?’ He wasn’t sure if Tony would be super happy with that last option, so he stayed quiet. Then, while Peter was still caught up in his musings, the elevator dinged again. 

“We’re back!” Thor’s voice rumbled from the elevator. “Well, I’m back. Bruce had to stop his lab to retrieve something.”

Peter watched as Thor paused, eyes on the Christmas tree. “Christmas! I know that one, it’s your Sun God’s birthday,” He smiled self-indulgently. Then, a thought seemed to strike him, and he titled his head. “Is today Christmas?”

“No. And it’s God’s son’s birthday, not a sun god.” Captain Rogers replied, shaking his head. “This is so weird.” Peter wondered how much of it was weird anyway, and how much of it was weird because Tony Stark had a teenage intern who just walked into a top security room with a Christmas tree in July. 

Peter felt eyes on him, and he looked over to Tony who seemed somewhat concerned. Tony looking at Peter must have tipped Thor off, because Thor looked right at him and smiled. “Hi!” he called. 

Peter was surprised to be addressed. But grateful. He smiled and waved and replied, “Hi!”

Thor nodded, and Peter went back to hanging ornaments on his tree, but he continued to listen. “Who’s that?” Thor whispered to the others. 

“Tony’s intern,” Hawkeye - Mr. Barton - supplied. 

“Ah,” Thor nodded, then paused. “What’s an intern?”

In his peripheral vision, Peter saw Captain Rogers narrow his eyes in Peter’s direction. “Like a student? Sort of like he’s Tony’s student.”

Mr. Barton shook his head. “No, there’s gotta be a better comparison. What do you have on Asgard? Wards? Apprentices?”

“Ah, apprentices! Yes, we have apprentices!” Thor nodded. He pointed at Peter again and looked at Tony. “So, he’s your apprentice?” An image of the sorcerer's apprentice, with the hat and the magic mops, flashed through Peter's mind. 

“Yeah, sure,” Tony agreed.

“You’re preparing him to take over your business?” Thor asked. Peter chuckled quietly. 

“Sort of. He probably won’t but,” Tony shrugged. “He still gets the inheritance.”

Peter’s mind blanked, and he perked up. “What?” 

But Tony just looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have a Christmas tree to decorate?”

Peter opened his mouth ready to argue, but the elevator dinged again and interrupted him. If Peter hadn't felt overwhelmed before, he definitely was now. Dr. Bruce Banner walked out of the elevator, holding two vials. 

“Okay, so,” Dr. Banner looked up but seemed to immediately lose his train of thought. “Why’s there a Christmas tree? And who’s the kid?”

Peter heard a gasp, and some part of his brain registered that he in fact had been the one to make that sound. His eyes were glued to Dr. Banner, and he stood up, uncertain what to do. What do you do when you're standing in front of the greatest scientist of your generation?

Peter registered that Tony was now walking over to him, rolling his eyes playfully. Peter felt Tony’s hands fall onto his shoulders, and the older man started guiding him over to Dr. Banner. “Brucie, this is Peter,” Tony began. “He’s about to totally freak out on you.”

And Peter did. “Oh my God. I am so honored to meet you. You’re like my favorite scientist. There’s a picture of you on the wall in my chemistry classroom. I’ve read all your papers. I got the idea for my last science fair project from your paper on electromagnetic nuclear decay. I am just like such a big fan of you.”

“Wait a second, you know I am also a scientist.” Tony interjected. Peter looked up at him confused, but quickly dismissed him and looked back at Dr. Banner, who was smiling, if a little confused. 

“That’s awesome! That’s not normally what people recognize me for. Especially not teenagers.” Dr. Banner put both of the vials in his left hand and stuck out his right for Peter to shake. Peter stared at it momentarily, before grabbing his hand and smiling back. 

“So, um, what’re you doing here, Peter?” Dr. Banner asked Peter the question, but he looked to Tony for the answer. 

“He’s my intern. He found a Christmas tree.”

“In July?” Dr. Banner asked. Peter felt his smile grow even more, if that was possible. 

“I know right!” Peter answered. He turned around, thinking he should probably get some distance before he completely embarrassed himself. He noticed Captain Rogers frowning at him. 

“How come you didn’t freak out like that when you saw us?” The captain asked.

Peter paused and furrowed his brows. He felt like it should be obvious why. Besides, if he was going to fanboy about any of the Avengers, Captain America was probably his last choice. “You don’t have seven Ph.D.s,” he answered matter-of-factly. 

Rhodey barked out a loud laugh, and in the process, he dropped the ornament he was holding. 

“No!” Peter shouted. Then, seemingly in one swift movement, he jumped in the air, ran across the wall, and slid down beside the Christmas tree to catch the ornament in his hands. He let out a sigh, and mumbled to himself, “An excellent catch from Parker.” Then, he realized what he’d done, and his eyes shot wide open in disbelief. A brief silence followed. He could feel his face heating up, but he was too afraid to look at the others. 

Thor leaned over to Dr. Banner and spoke up, “Is that normal athleticism for human teenagers?”

Dr. Banner began to answer in the negative, but Miss Romanoff cut him off. “That’s Spider-Man.” Peter’s body filled with tension. She didn’t phrase it as a question. 

“That’s Spider-Man?!” Mr. Barton shouted. Peter watched as Tony dropped his face into his hands. 

“What’s Spider-Man?” Dr. Banner asked. Despite the circumstances, Peter registered a bit of sadness that Dr. Banner didn’t know who Spider-Man was. Thor answered his question. “No idea.”

“No, no, no, no,” Captain Rogers shook his head in disbelief. “That's not Spider-Man. I dropped a jet bridge on Spider-Man.”

“You dropped a jet bridge on him?!” Tony shouted and pointed at Peter. 

“You brought a 14-year-old to a battle?!” Steve shouted back. 

“I’m 16,” Peter cut in, looking down at his ornament. “I was 15 then though,” he mumbled. Captain Rogers looked at him like he was crazy. 

“I can’t believe this is a conversation we’re having. How could you bring a 15-year-old to Germany, Tony? If you’re going about recruiting, try focusing on adults!”

“Okay, look, you don’t know what you’re talking about, Rogers.” Tony tried. 

“I don’t know what I’m talking about?” Captain Rogers challenged. Peter tried to cut in, to defend Tony, but Tony didn’t give him any time. 

“Yeah, believe it or not, you really don’t know what you’re talking about with this one.”

“No, I think I know exactly what I’m talking about this time.” Peter saw the disgusted look on the captain's face, and a protective feeling surged up inside him. “I bet you looked right at him, and you didn’t see a 15-year-old, you saw a weapon. Anything to put you ahead. That's a kid, Stark! Does that register for you?”

Peter must have been walking towards them, because he felt Rhodey put a hand on his shoulder to restrain him. “Rogers,” Rhodey tried. 

Tony shook his head, and Peter could tell how mad he was. “Don’t go down this road, Rogers. Seriously, drop it. You have no idea-”

“Tony, he could’ve gotten killed!”

“You think I don’t know that!” Tony screamed. The fear in Tony's voice shocked Peter, and he felt his jaw hang open. Tony looked over at him, breathing fast, face red.

Tony sighed and started again quieter. “You think I don’t know that? But he didn’t. He’s sitting in my living room with a Christmas tree instead,” Tony breathed. He looked back to Captain Rogers. “Everything that happened in Germany was wrong. Besides, that’s not his normal scene.” Tony looked back to Peter, smiling sadly. “He looks out for the little guy.”

Peter smiled back sincerely, hoping to lighten the mood. The argument definitely felt intense. Peter knew Tony had more problems with Captain Rogers than anyone else, so he wasn’t sure how normal this was. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Captain Rogers still shaking his head.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck and raised an eyebrow at Peter. Peter remembered what had sparked the fight to begin with, and he could feel an admonition coming on. “So, should I be worried that you're walking on walls in front of strangers often or...?”

“No, no!” Peter rushed to defend himself. “I’m normally really good about that sort of thing, I swear!” I just,” he remembered the ornament in his hands and looked down at it. He blushed again. “I really didn’t want this to break,” he muttered. 

Tony had a confused look on his face and walked over towards them to see what Peter was talking about. Peter felt Tony’s hand come down on his shoulder, and Tony knelt down to look at it with him. Peter saw him brighten a bit. “We could’ve made another,” Tony supplied, voice soft. 

“Yeah, but,” Peter smiled at it. “It wouldn’t have been the same.”

Tony made a sound of agreement. A little bit of the stress seemed to wash away from him, and Peter was happy he could help. 

Peter heard Dr. Banner whisper from the other side of the room. “What is going on?” 

Then, Rhodey sighed and stood up from the other side of Peter’s shoulder. Peter looked up to see him smiling and shaking his head. “You guys gotta see this. It’s pretty cute.” 

Peter looked over to Tony who seemed to be doing his best to ignore everyone else in the room. He gently took the ornament from Peter’s hands and placed it in the center of the tree. Then, he put his arms on Peter’s shoulders. Peter looked at the ornament, a glass design of Iron-Man and Spider-Man side-by-side, and smiled. They’d made it together in the lab before last Christmas, and it had made Peter feel warm just looking at it. The ornament itself was pretty, and it would’ve been sentimental either way, but the memory of working together made it even better. 

Peter looked up to see Black Widow and Hawkeye now looking over Tony’s shoulder. “That’s pretty cool, Spider-Man,” Miss Romanoff smirked. 

“Wow,” Mr. Barton looked at Tony. “Wizard finally get you that new heart, Tin Man?”

“Ha ha ha, very funny, Barton.” Tony replied. 

Captain America stayed quiet but his agitated demeanor seemed to melt a bit looking at the ornament. Dr. Banner and Thor had walked over to the other side of them, also looking at the ornament. “Is that you?” Thor asked Peter, pointing to the Spider-Man side of the ornament.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Peter smiled. 

“You’re, uh, enhanced?” Dr. Banner asked. 

“Yeah,” Peter shrugged. “Got bit by a radioactive spider.” 

Dr. Banner looked surprised. “Huh,” he looked at Tony. “And you’re, what, like his superhero mentor?” 

Tony gave him a funny look but agreed nonetheless. “I guess.” He walked back over to the kitchen counter, probably trying to get some space. “Gave him the suit and gear. He’s pretty good on his own though.” Peter wished he could force the blush out of his cheeks with will alone. 

“He is sort of like my actual intern though,” Tony continued. “He’s crazy smart. Going places. He works in the lab with me.”

“In your lab?” Dr. Banner asked, surprised again. 

“Yep.” Tony answered, popping the ‘p’ sound. 

Peter heard Rhodey whisper to Dr. Banner. “He hands him things.”

“He hands him things?” Dr. Banner asked. 

“He hands him things,” Rhodey confirmed. 

“Huh,” Captain Rogers sighed. “Wouldn’t have pegged Tony as the mentor-type. In fact, he might have been my last choice out of all of us.” He looked at Miss Romanoff. “Maybe.”

She raised an eyebrow, questioning him. “Not your ideal role-model?”

Peter didn’t like the implication. Tony was a good role-model, even if he didn’t think so. He spoke up. “Hey, Mr. Stark’s a great mentor. I’d pick him over any of you.” Which was true, even if Dr. Banner was his favorite scientist.

“What do your parents think of the vigilante thing?” The captain asked. “They big fans of ‘Mr. Stark’?” He asked as if it would prove his point. Peter really wasn’t the confrontational type, but Captain Rogers was really getting on his nerves. 

“They’re dead,” Peter supplied, looking straight at Captain Rogers. Normally, he didn’t like for people to pity him for it, but he kind of hoped the man felt a little ashamed for asking. He looked back at the tree. “I live with my aunt. She loves Mr. Stark.” Which was sort of true. Almost. “She pretends like she doesn’t, but she does.”

“I’m charming,” Tony provided. “Besides, I didn’t make him a superhero. He did that all on his own. I just helped him out a bit.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “And you know,” he looked back to Captain Rogers pointedly. “He never dropped a jet bridge on me.”

Captain Rogers did look sufficiently ashamed now. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about that. I, uh, don’t normally drop jet bridges on teenagers. Or anyone.”

Peter nodded. He looked over his other shoulder to see that Miss Romanoff and Thor were now grabbing ornaments out of the box and helping him decorate the tree. Which was not something he ever imagined would happen. Miss Romanoff caught his eye and smiled.

“Well, this has been a fun meet-and-greet,” Tony began from across the room. “But don’t we have some world-saving to do?”

The others looked at each other, and a few of them smirked. 

Dr. Banner answered. “Well, we do have three days, and I think you and I can talk through this formula while we put some ornaments on this tree.”

Rhodey smiled in agreement. “Seems like we’ve got a Christmas tree to decorate first." 

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, okay, I know that was really long, but I hope you liked it!! This is one of my oldest ideas, and I really enjoyed writing it. Plus, we finally have a Spider-Man reveal! Many people have been asking for that, so I hope you guys enjoyed it. I have more ideas for identity reveals, so this will not be the last. Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you have an idea you'd like to see in this collection.


End file.
